NEW YORK — Nvidia has hired one of the country's most prominent former prosecutors to investigate its chief executive, Jensen Huang. Joon H. Kim is a Korean American lawyer who once ran the Manhattan federal prosecutor's office and co-led the investigation that ended New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's career.

The chipmaker's independent directors said Tuesday they had retained Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Kim will "conduct a thorough and independent investigation," the board said.

The inquiry will examine whether Huang was the target of what the board called a "foreign intelligence effort." It will also look at whether Nvidia's secrets or U.S. national security were compromised through his relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman U.S. intelligence officials believe was spying for China. The two are not related.

A committee of independent directors will oversee the work, with Kim's team serving as outside counsel. In its original statement on Sunday, the board said it had "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised," but that its review would "examine all available information."

Kim, whose Korean name is Kim Joon-hyun, was born in Los Angeles in May 1971. He is the son of Kim Jae-sung, a former South Korean ambassador to Jordan. He spent much of his childhood abroad, living in South Korea, Jordan and Britain as his father moved between diplomatic posts.

Kim has said his........

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